Games and gaming devices utilizing game cards with bonus symbols

ABSTRACT

A game utilizes cards or similar game elements having at least primary indicia or symbols and in some instances at least a secondary or bonus indicia or symbol. The primary indicia may comprise card rank and suit indicia. The cards may include a secondary slot or bonus symbol. A deck of cards may comprise multiple cards having primary indicia with one or more or all of the cards including a secondary or bonus symbol. The primary indicia may be evaluated in the play of a primary game such as a poker game, while the secondary symbols may be used in a secondary slot game or may trigger one or more bonus events. In other embodiments, the game cards may include game symbol primary indicia, game suit secondary indicia and slot line tertiary indicia. A deck of slot cards may be formed from individual cards each bearing unique combinations of the indicia. In game play, slot cards may be dealt in a row and, after any discard and replacement, the resulting slot cards may be evaluated against a pay table which defines winning combinations of slot cards and associated awards.

RELATED APPLICATION DATA

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser.No. 61/277,993, filed Sep. 30, 2009.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates generally to playing cards and games using cards,and in particular to a casino-style game played with cards havingsecondary bonus symbols.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Casino-style gaming is a very popular activity. Casinos offer varioustraditional table games such as poker, roulette, craps and blackjack.Casinos also offer the play of spinning reel mechanical or video gamingmachines and video poker gaming machines.

Casinos are continually seeking to present new and exciting games totheir players. For example, casinos may offer a wide variety of videoslot machines having different game “themes”. However, there is a needfor games having new unique and exciting features.

From the discussion that follows, it will become apparent that thepresent invention addresses the deficiencies associated with the priorart while providing numerous additional advantages and benefits notcontemplated or possible with prior art constructions.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Particular embodiments of the invention relate to gaming devices andgame methods utilizing game cards. In one embodiment, game cards includeat least one primary indicia and, in some instances, at least asecondary or bonus indicia or symbol. The primary indicia may comprise,for example, standard playing card rank and suit indicia. The primaryindicia might be other forms of indicia, however, such as slot-gamesymbols.

In one embodiment a deck of game or playing cards comprises multiplecards each having primary indicia. One or more or all of the game cardsalso include a secondary or bonus symbol. The secondary or bonus symbolsassociated with the cards may the same or different, such as selectedfrom a set of bonus symbols.

In one embodiment, the game cards may be used in the play of a game suchas a wagering game. The game may have a primary or base component. Thiscomponent may be played with the primary indicia of the game cards. Sucha game might comprise a poker game. The game may have a secondary orbonus component. The secondary component might comprise a bonus gameplayed using the bonus symbols on the cards, or may comprise a bonusevent which is triggered as a result of the bonus symbols associatedwith the cards.

As one example, a deck of game cards may be used to play a primary game.One or more of the cards may be dealt or displayed to a player. Theprimary game may be played using the primary indicia associated with thedealt cards. In addition, if the cards used in the game bear one or moredesignated bonus symbols or combinations thereof, a bonus event may betriggered. The bonus event may comprise an award of winnings orpresentation of a secondary event which may or may not include playerinput. That secondary event may provide the opportunity for outcomeshaving awards.

As another example, all of the cards may include a secondary or bonussymbol. A game play may be played using one or more of the game cards.The game cards may be evaluated for potential winning combinations ofprimary symbols, such as for winning poker hands. The game cards mayalso be evaluated for potential winning combinations of bonus symbols,such as in a slot-type game.

The game cards may comprise physical cards. The cards may have a frontand a back. The primary indicia and secondary bonus symbols (if any) maybe, for example, printed on the front of the cards. A deck of game cardsmight comprise 52 cards each having the unique playing card combinationsof the ranks 2 through Ace in the suits Clubs, Spades, Hearts andDiamonds. One or more or all of the cards may include a secondarysymbol. Decks of game cards may be the same or they may be different.For example, different decks may have different numbers of cards bearingsecondary symbols or the same number of cards bearing secondary symbolsbut where the particular secondary symbols born by the cards differ.

In another embodiment, the game cards may comprise video images, such aspresented on an electronic display of an electronic orelectro-mechanical gaming machine. In such an embodiment game cards maybe randomly selected or generated. For example, secondary symbols may berandomly selected and be randomly associated with one or more the gamecards.

Another embodiment of the invention is a gaming device and game methodutilizing a unique set of game indicia, such as in the form of a set ordeck of slot cards. In one embodiment, the game indicia comprises aplurality of game symbol primary indicia, a plurality of game suitsecondary indicia and one or more slot line tertiary indicia. Each gamesymbol primary indicia is replicated for each one of a plurality of gamesuit secondary indicia and further replicated with one or more slot linetertiary indicia resulting in a total number of slot cards in a slotcard deck that equates to the number of game symbols multiplied by thenumber of game suit secondary indicia multiplied by the number of slotline tertiary indicia.

In one or more embodiments, the slot line tertiary indicia may begraphical or numerical. Additionally, when the slot game is played withonly one slot line, the slot line tertiary indicia need not bedisplayed.

In one or more embodiments, each slot card has a slot card front and aslot card back, wherein the game symbol primary indicia, the game suitsecondary indicia, and the slot line tertiary indicia are displayedwithin a rectangular area resembling a playing card to form the slotcard front. In one or more embodiments, a slot card back may contain acommon graphic indicia displayed within a rectangular area for each slotcard; the slot card back representing a slot card with the slot cardfront hidden from the player.

Many combinations of game symbol primary indicia, game suit secondaryindicia and game slot line tertiary indicia are possible resulting in alarge number of unique slot cards. Each unique slot card is combinedwith other unique slot cards to form a plurality of slot cards resultingin a deck of slot cards wherein one or more decks of slot cards may beused for a plurality of game implementation embodiments.

In one game embodiment, slot cards may be arranged in one or more groupsof five slot cards. In one or more game embodiments where more than onegroup of five slot cards are played, the groups may be arranged in aplurality of rows where each slot card within a group exists within oneof a plurality of columns.

In one embodiment, the game may be played as a multiple sequence gamewith multiple decks of slot cards. For example, the game may comprisethree groups of five slot cards arranged in three vertical rows. Allthree groups of slot cards are displayed with the slot card back face-upuntil the player makes a wager. For example, wagers may be placed by theplayer in any number of scenarios, such as a single wager made on theoverall game, a wager on each group of slot cards, and/or a wager on aselect group of slot cards when there are multiple groups of slot cardsbeing played.

In one embodiment, upon wagering, the slot cards in the bottom row areflipped over to display their front faces and those card faces arereplicated to each row above; resulting in three groups of slot cards,wherein each group displays the same slot cards in each of columns asare displayed in the bottom row.

The player may then select one or more slot cards to HOLD on the bottomrow; the HOLD selection being replicated to each of the slot cards inthe same columns of each row above.

The player then presses a game selection indicator such as a PLAY buttonon the gaming machine or touch screen. The slot cards in each group thatwere held remain, however the non-held slot cards are replaced with newslot cards.

Each group or row of slot cards is then evaluated against a pay table.Preferably, the pay table defines one or more winning combinations ofslot cards, those winning combinations having one or more associatedawards. The pay table preferably defines winning combination of slotcards comprising combinations of game symbol primary indicia, game suitsecondary indicia and slot line tertiary indicia. For example, a paytable may pay 10 credits for three game symbol primary indicia matcheswhen 5 credits are wagered; pay 20 credits for four game symbol primaryindicia matches when 5 credits are wagered; pay 5 credits for two pairof matching game symbol primary indicia when 5 credits are wagered; maypay 50 credits for five slot cards containing different game suitsecondary indicia when 5 credits are wagered; may pay 50 credits forfive different slot cards containing game symbol primary indicia when 5credits are wagered; may pay 100 credits for five slot cards containingall matching game symbol indicia and all matching slot line tertiaryindicia; or for other combinations of slot cards. In the preferredembodiment, the payout is proportional to the amount bet and the odds ofobtaining the specific combination of slot cards given a specific slotcard deck or multiple decks.

In one or more embodiments, a plurality of slot card groups, arranged inrows, may be played by the player. For example, a player might play tengroups/rows, twenty groups/rows, fifty groups/rows, or one hundredgroups/rows of slot cards.

In one embodiment, a pay table may comprise a slot card combination suchas two matching pairs of slot cards, three matching slot cards, fourmatching slot cards, or various other combinations of game symbolprimary indicia, game suit secondary indicia and slot line tertiaryindicia. The payout is based on the mathematical probability ofreceiving the specific combination of slot cards wherein each slot cardcomprises a game symbols primary indicia, game suit secondary indiciaand a slot line tertiary indicia.

In other embodiments, a traditional game such as a spinning reel game ora video poker game may be played prior, during or after the describedinvention to establish a BONUS multiplier associated with the gameoutcome of the invention or may be used to establish one or more BONUSslot cards, slot card game symbol primary indicia, slot card game suitsecondary indicia, and/or slot line tertiary indicia which may be playedalong with the deck of slot cards.

In one or more embodiments, casino gaming regulations must be consideredfor each game implementation for a casino gaming device and in one ormore embodiments may comprise variations of the same game based on suchcasino gaming regulations and must include functionality consistent withall casino gaming regulations such as the random number generator andsecurity of the game.

In one or more embodiments, the game may include a set of configurationparameters that may be set to turn game features on or off to meet therequirements of the particular gaming regulations for a particularcasino gaming jurisdiction.

In one or more embodiments, the game may be played as a play for fungame with a set of parameters configured by the player and not supportcasino wagering but rather support play for fun wagering.

Other systems, methods, features and advantages of the invention will beor will become apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination ofthe following figures and detailed description. It is intended that allsuch additional systems, methods, features and advantages be includedwithin this description, be within the scope of the invention, and beprotected by the accompanying claims.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The components in the figures are not necessarily to scale, emphasisinstead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention.In the figures, like reference numerals designate corresponding partsthroughout the different views.

FIG. 1 illustrates a plurality of game suit secondary indicia examplesthat may be used in one of a plurality of game embodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example symbol group with five slot cards each ofwhich containing game symbol indicia and game suit secondary indiciaindicia.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a slot card front with game symbolindicia and game suit secondary indicia indicia.

FIG. 4 illustrates three groups of five slot cards, arranged in threerows and five columns, displaying the back of each symbol

FIG. 5 illustrates a game play sequence with three groups of five slotcards wherein the card fronts of each slot card within the first slotcard group are displayed, while the card backs of two slot card groupsare displayed.

FIG. 6 illustrates a game play sequence with three groups of five slotcards wherein the card fronts of each slot card within the first slotcard group are displayed, while the card backs of two slot card groupsare displayed where the player selects HOLD slot cards from the firstslot card group.

FIG. 7 illustrates a game play sequence with three groups of five slotcards wherein the card fronts of each slot card within the first slotcard group are replicated to each of the slot card groups along with theslot cards that were held in the first slot card group.

FIG. 8 illustrates a game play sequence with three groups of five slotcards wherein the card fronts of each slot card are displayed, all cardsexcept the HOLD cards from FIG. 7 are replaced with new slot cards, thegame then identifying winning combinations.

FIG. 9 is an example of possible game symbols and game suit secondaryindicia which can be used by one or more of the embodiments.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart of one game play embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 11 is an example of a slot card displaying a primary, and secondaryindicia with numerical tertiary indicia.

FIG. 12 is an example of a slot card displaying primary and secondaryindicia with graphical tertiary indicia.

FIG. 13 illustrates an example symbol group with five slot cards each ofwhich containing game symbol indicia and game suit secondary indicia andnumerical game line indicia.

FIG. 14 illustrates an example symbol group with five slot cards each ofwhich containing game symbol indicia and game suit secondary indicia andgraphical game line indicia.

FIGS. 15-23 illustrate examples of game cards bearing primary indiciaand, in one or more instances, a secondary or bonus symbol.

Table 1 illustrates an example pay table for a three line slot cardgame.

Table 2 illustrates a sample 183 slot card deck.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth inorder to provide a more thorough description of the present invention.It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that thepresent invention may be practiced without these specific details. Inother instances, well-known features have not been described in detailso as not to obscure the invention.

Particular embodiments of the invention comprise gaming devices and gamemethods utilizing a plurality of game symbol primary indicia, aplurality of game suit secondary indicia and one or more slot linetertiary indicia, those indicia arranged in various combinations to forma plurality of slot cards, and the slot cards arranged in variouscombinations to form decks of slot cards. In a preferred embodiment,game cards or other game elements bear primary, secondary and tertiaryindicia. In one embodiment, each game symbol primary indicia isreplicated for each one of a plurality of game suit secondary indiciaand further replicated with one or more slot line tertiary indiciaresulting in a total number of slot or game cards that equates to thenumber of game symbols multiplied by the number of game suit secondaryindicia multiplied by the number of slot line tertiary indicia.

FIG. 2 illustrates a plurality of possible game symbol primary indiciaas, for example, CHERRIES 200, BAR 205, BELL 210, HORSE SHOE 220, andDIAMOND 230. The game symbol primary indicia might also comprisefamiliar graphical slot symbol indicia from popular spinning reel gamessuch as MONOPOLY® from WMS, CLEOPATRA® from IGT, and WIZARD OF OZ® fromWMS. There is no restriction to the graphical indicia that may be usedfor any particular game embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 1, game suit secondary indicia for one or moreembodiments may be any graphical indicia. Preferably, however, the gamesuit secondary indicia vary from the game symbol primary indicia and theslot tertiary indicia. For example, the game suit secondary indiciaHEARTS 100, CLUBS 110, SPADES 120, DIAMONDS 130, POT OF GOLD 140, andRASBERRY 150 may be assigned as the game suit secondary indicia for theslot cards used by a particular game implementation embodiment. The useof graphical indicia to represent game suit secondary indicia furtheradds to the excitement of the game by increasing the payouts related tothe probability of obtaining unique slot card combinations. Such payoutsmay be calculated to be part of the overall game or may be bonus payoutsas illustrated in Table 1.

The game suit secondary indicia may further comprise indicia familiar tothe player and may be associated with the game symbol primary indicia.For example, in one embodiment of the game, graphical indicia for thegame symbol primary indicia may comprise familiar symbols from theWIZARD OF OZ® casino gaming device from WMS, while the graphical indiciafor the game suit secondary indicia may comprise the key characters fromthe game such as DORTHY, TOTO, TIN MAN, SCARE CROW, and LION. In othergame embodiments, those characters may represent game symbol primaryindicia while the game suit secondary indicia may be for example GOLDCOINS, TORNADO, HEARTS, POT OF GOLD, DIAMONDS, CLUBS, SPADES, andRAINBOW. In other embodiments there is no association required betweenthe graphical indicia used for the game suit secondary indicia and thegraphical indicia used for the game symbol primary indicia.

As indicated, the slot cards preferably include slot tertiary indicia.Preferably, the slot tertiary indicia vary from, and are thusdistinguishable from, the symbol primary indicia and the suit secondaryindicia. FIG. 11 illustrates an embodiment where a slot card has slotline tertiary indicia 1110 displayed numerically as a slot line number,such as the numbers 1, 2, 3, etc. For example, various slot linetertiary indicia is illustrated in FIG. 13, wherein each slot cardcontains a numerical value representing the slot line number. In thisexample, slot card 1310 bears slot line number 2, slot card 1320 bearsline number 4, slot card 1330 bears line number 1, slot card 1340 bearsline number 9, and slot card 1350 bears line number 1.

In other embodiments, the game slot line tertiary indicia may berepresented as graphical indicia, such as illustrated in FIG. 12. Asillustrated therein, the slot line tertiary indicia 1210 represents slotline or line number 4. Various slot line tertiary indicia areillustrated in FIG. 14, wherein each slot card contains graphicalindicia representing the slot line number. In this example, slot card1410 bears line number 2, slot card 1420 bears line number 1, slot card1430 bears line number 2, slot card 1440 bears line number 1, and slotcard 1450 bears line number 1.

In other embodiments, further graphical combinations are possible. Forexample each slot card's slot line tertiary indicia may be comprised ofa plurality of colored graphical line indicia wherein each colorrepresents a particular slot line number. For example, RED may equate toSlot Line 2, GREEN may equate to Slot Line 3 and so on, enabling slotcards to have more than one game slot line for a particular slot card.In one embodiment, if a single slot line is played, the slot linetertiary need not be indicated on each slot card. Such an embodiment isillustrated in FIG. 2, wherein the slot cards do not display slot linetertiary indicia and thus the cards are all interpreted to have only 1slot line.

Each game symbol primary indicia is associated with game suit secondaryindicia to form a slot card as shown in FIG. 3. Preferably, each slotcard has a front or face 300 wherein the indicia of the game symbol 310and the indicia of the game suit secondary indicia 320 are displayedwithin a rectangular area resembling a playing card to form a slot cardfront. In the example used for FIG. 3, the slot card has only 1 slotline, so no slot line tertiary indicia is displayed. In one or moreembodiments where no slot line tertiary indicia is present on the faceof a slot card, for example as illustrated in FIG. 3, slot card 300 doesnot have slot line tertiary indicia visible.

In one or more embodiments, as shown in FIG. 4, each slot card may havea back 400. The card back 400 may display or bear common graphic indiciadisplayed within a rectangular area. The card backs are preferablyidentical so that the cards can not be identified from one another. Inaddition, the graphical indicia may aid in preventing the card facesfrom being visible through the cards. For example, each slot card backrepresents an unknown slot card with which the player will play thegame. During the game, the slot card back will change to a slot cardfront revealing the specific slot card game symbol primary indicia, gamesuit secondary indicia and slot line tertiary indicia (depending onwhether the cards are physical or graphically represented, thistransformation may occur by flipping over a physical card or replacingthe graphical display of a card back with a card front).

Many combinations of game symbol primary indicia, game suit secondaryindicia and game slot line tertiary indicia are possible resulting in alarge number of unique slot cards for a given slot card game embodiment.Further, in a preferred embodiment, each unique slot card is combinedwith other slot cards to form a plurality of slot cards resulting in adeck of slot cards. In addition, one or more decks of slot cards may beused for a plurality of game implementation embodiments. See Table 2which illustrates one embodiment of a 183 slot card deck.

In the preferred embodiments of the game, it is highly desirable thatthe graphical indicia are familiar to the player and the game suitsecondary indicia relate to the game symbol primary indicia theme.

In one or more embodiments, any combination of game symbol primaryindicia and game suit secondary indicia and game slot line tertiaryindicia may be chosen by the game embodiment designer based on thedesired mathematical probability model desired for the particular game.

For example, a game embodiment with 20 different game symbol primaryindicia and 5 different game suit secondary indicia and 1 game slot linetertiary indicia will comprise a deck of 100 slot cards. In thisexample, the slot card game embodiment has only 1 slot line and a gamemay be played using 5 slot cards in a single group or row. The odds forselecting matching game symbol primary indicia would then be calculatedbased on the total number of slot cards and the probability of receivinga particular combination of slot cards. In another example, the slotcard game embodiment has 3 slot lines and uses 5 slot cards in 3 rows ofslot cards. For example, the slot cards may be arranged in groups ofslot cards and displayed in rows as illustrated in FIG. 8 wherein threegroups are illustrated: Group 1—410, group 2—420 and group 3—410. In afurther example, in one embodiment the slot card game uses a slot carddeck of slot cards comprising 100 game symbol primary indicia, 6 gamesuit secondary indicia and 10 slot line tertiary indicia; resulting in atotal of 100×6×10=6000 cards.

The slot cards may be organized in a wide variety of slot card groupingsfor any number of game embodiments. For example, the slot cards may bearranged in a single group, such as in a or row of 2 or more slot cards(such as 5 slot cards, 10 slot cards or the like), wherein each of whichslot cards comprise a game symbol primary indicia, a game suit secondaryindicia and a game line tertiary indicia. The objective in this slotcard game embodiment is for the player to match game symbol primaryindicia while also matching slot line tertiary indicia and optionallyuse the game suit secondary indicia to pay out an additional bonus, suchas when a specific number of slot cards match the game suit secondaryindicia or other combinations of slot cards as defined in a pay tableare achieved.

In the preferred embodiment, a slot card does not have a rank, as istypical in traditional poker games using playing cards. For example, theslot card game simply pays the player based on the player's wager andthe odds of obtaining a specific number of matching game symbol primaryindicia and/or game suit secondary indicia and/or slot line tertiary orother predefined combinations.

For example, the player may receive a payout based on receiving all thesame game suit secondary indicia or may receive a payout based onreceiving all different game suit secondary indicia with noconsideration at all to what the game symbol primary indicia is on anyof the slot cards.

In further embodiments, the slot cards may include a ranking feature anddecks or groups of slot cards may utilize specialty slot cards. Forexample, the slot card game symbol primary indicia may contain graphicalindicia such as ONE BAR, TWO BARS, THREE BARS wherein matching multipleTHREE BARS game symbol primary indicia on a slot cards pays more to theplayer then matching ONE BAR game symbol primary indicia on a slot card.

In other embodiments, there may be BONUS slot cards with game symbolprimary indicia used to pay the player a bonus payout. As such the oddsof receiving a BONUS slot card are based on the odds of receiving thecard. Thus for a slot card deck comprising 100 game symbol primaryindicia, 10 game suit secondary indicia and 20 slot line tertiaryindicia there are a total of 100×10×20=20,000 slot cards in the slotcard deck. By inserting 1 BONUS slot card, the player has the odds ofbeing dealt the 1 BONUS slot card based on the total number of slotcards in the slot deck and related to how many slot cards are dealt tothe player.

In one or more embodiments, the slot card game is played as a singlesequence game without player input, the game comprising the steps of: 1)dealing a set or group of two or more slot cards, 2) evaluating theindicia of the slot cards; and 3) paying the player based on the odds ofreceiving specific combinations of slot cards, such as in accordancewith a pay table that defines particular winning outcomes and associatedawards (wherein such a pay table and its awards may be based upon theprobability of receiving a particular slot card combinations).

In one or more embodiments, the slot card game is played as a multiplesequence game including player input, the game comprising the stepsof: 1) dealing a set or group of two or more slot cards, 2) receivinginput from a player as to none, one or more of the slot cards to beheld; 3) replacing non-held slot cards with other slot cards; 4)evaluating the resultant final group of slot cards; and 5) paying theplayer, such as based upon a pay table. In another embodiment, theplayer may be permitted to hold/discard one or more slot cards afterreplacement cards have been dealt (i.e. a second or other additionallevels of hold/replacement).

In one or more embodiments, the game may be played with no interactionby the player; wherein the game automatically HOLDS specific slot cardsfor the player and deals new slot cards to replace the slot cards thatwere not held.

In one or more embodiments a game may be played with more than one groupof slot cards. In a preferred embodiment, the groups may be arranged ina plurality of rows, wherein each row has two or more slot cards andeach slot card within said row exists within one of a plurality ofcolumns. The rows of slot cards may be played wherein each slot cardgroup/row is evaluated independently from other slot card group/rows. Inthis embodiment, the player is able to play a plurality of multiplegroups of slot cards, each of which forming a slot card game,simultaneously. While the payout of each slot card group/row may becombined with the payouts from all other slot card group/rows by addingthe results of each group/rows of slot cards being played to pay theplayer.

In one embodiment, the game may be played as a multiple sequence gamewith multiple decks of slot cards. For example, the game may be playedwith three groups of five slot cards each arranged in three horizontalrows. All three groups of slot cards are displayed with a symbol backuntil the player makes a wager. For example, wagers on the game may beplaced by the player in any number of scenarios, such as a single wagermay be made on the overall game, a wager may be made on each group ofslot cards, and/or a wager may be made selectively on a group of slotcards when there are more than one groups of slot cards being played.

In one embodiment, the game steps include the steps illustrated in thegame flow chart in FIG. 10.

In one embodiment, upon wagering, as illustrated in FIG. 5, the group ofslot cards 430 on the bottom row is displayed while the two rows of slotcard groups 410 and 420 above remain displaying slot card backs. Theplayer then has the choice of HOLDing any or none of the slot cards 510,520, 530, 540 and/or 550. In FIG. 6, the player has held slot card 520and slot card 540. In this particular embodiment of the game, the bottomrow is then replicated as illustrated in FIG. 7, including the HOLDcards, to each of the two rows above resulting in three groups of slotcards 410, 420, and 430 displaying each respective slot card front,wherein each group displays the same slot card fronts displayed in eachof the same columns as displayed in the bottom row 430.

The player then presses a game selection indicator such as a PLAYbutton, or DRAW button or NEXT button on the gaming device chassis orgaming device touch screen. As illustrated in FIG. 8, those slot cardsthat were held remain, while the other slot cards are replaced with newslot cards, resulting in the three groups of slot cards 410, 420 and 430used to determine the player's payout based on the players wager and theodds established for slot card combinations defined in the gameembodiment's pay table, such as illustrated in Table 1.

The player is then paid based on a combination of slot cards byevaluating the indicia associated with each slot card to a pay table. Asillustrated in FIG. 8, the bottom row 430 of slot cards contains 2matches: slot card primary indicia BELL 520 matches slot card primaryindicia BELL 540 and slot card primary indicia HORSE SHOE 830 matchesslot card primary indicia HORSE SHOE 850. The graphical indicia 810 “2Matches” may be displayed to help the player understand why they won.

In one or more embodiments, a pay table may pay 10 credits for threematching slot cards when 5 credits are wagered, pay 20 credits for fourmatching slot cards when 5 credits are wagered, pay 5 credits for twopair of matching slot cards when 5 credits are wagered, may pay 50credits for five slot cards containing five different game suitsecondary indicia when 5 credits are wagered, may pay 50 credits forfive different game symbol primary indicia when 5 credits are wagered,may pay 150 credits for five different game symbol primary indicia withthe same game suit secondary indicia, or other combinations of slotcards may result in pay outs to the player proportional to the amountbet and the odds of obtaining the specific combination of slot cardsbased upon a specific slot card deck. Further, multiple slot card decksmay used in a particular game embodiment resulting in a pay tableassociated with the probability of receiving predefined combinations ofslot cards. For example, Table 1 illustrates the pay outs associatedwith a slot card game embodiment which is determined based on theprobability of occurrence.

In one or more embodiments, a plurality of slot card groups, arranged inhorizontal rows, may be played by the player as a single slot card gameor simultaneously playing multiple slot card games. For example, sevenslot card groups, ten slot card groups, twenty slot card groups, fiftyslot card groups, one hundred slot card groups, or other combinationsarranged by the slot card game designer grouping a number of slot cardsin one or more rows may be played by the player.

In another game embodiment, the player may receive one or more groups ofslot cards wherein each slot card used to form a group of slot cards isdrawn from multiple slot card decks of slot cards and displayed on thescreen in one of a plurality of groups of slot cards arranged in rows.The player may play the game simultaneously by selecting each particularslot card to HOLD in any of the rows of groups of slot cards.

The player then presses a game button or touch screen control to PLAYand the slot cards not held are replaced with new slot cards. The playerthen wins a specific number of credits for each group of slot cards whena group contains a unique combination of slot cards consistent with thegame's pay table based on the odds of receiving the combination and theamount wagered.

In one embodiment, a pay table may comprise a slot card combination suchas two pairs of matching game symbol primary indicia slot cards, threematching game symbol primary indicia slot cards, four matching gamesymbol primary indicia slot cards, five slot cards with matching gamesuit secondary indicia, five matching game symbol primary indicia withfive matching game suit secondary indicia with five matching slot linetertiary indicia or various other combinations of slot cards based on,but not limited to, a graphical theme, a numerical theme, a word basedtheme, the number of lines.

The player's payout is based on the mathematical probability ofreceiving the specific combination of, but not limited to, the totalnumber of slot cards, game symbol primary indicia and/or game suitsecondary indicia and/or slot line tertiary indicia and/or BONUS slotcards.

In other embodiments, a traditional game such as a spinning reel game ora video poker game may be played prior, during or after the describedinvention to establish a multiplier or BONUS associated with the gameoutcome of the invention or may be used to establish one or more BONUSgame symbol primary indicia which may be played along with the slotcards.

In one or more embodiments, casino gaming regulations must be consideredfor each game implementation for a casino gaming device and in one ormore embodiments may comprise variations of the same game based on suchcasino gaming regulations and must include functionality consistent withall casino gaming regulations such as the random number generator andsecurity of the game.

In one or more embodiments, the disclosed invention may be played as abonus game or secondary game based on an outcome being obtained by aprimary poker game or primary spinning reel game or primary keno game,or primary bingo game or other similar casino or non-casino game, givingthe player the chance to play the game.

In one or more embodiments, the game may include a set of configurationparameters that may be set to turn game features on or off to meet therequirements of the particular gaming regulations for a particularcasino gaming jurisdiction. For example, one such game embodiment mayinclude but is not limited to parameters such as a max payout of x forgaming jurisdiction A, max bet of y for gaming jurisdiction A, max gamesuit secondary indicia z for gaming jurisdiction A, max slot linetertiary indicia zz for jurisdiction A.

In one or more embodiments, the game may be played as a play for fungame with a set of parameters configured by the player and not supportcasino wagering but rather support play for fun wagering.

In one or more embodiments, a plurality slot card decks may be combinedto establish any number of desirable game embodiment game probabilities,including two or more decks of the same slot cards, two or more decks ofdifferent slot cards or one or more decks of slot cards combined withone or more decks of popular card game cards such as, but not limitedto, poker, hearts, baccarat, Pai Gow poker, Bridge, Pinochle. Whenpopular card game card decks are combined with one or more decks of slotcards, the rules of the popular card game may be used, modified or notused by the particular game embodiment also incorporating the slot carddecks into the particular game embodiment.

For example, to obtain a specific set of desirable probabilities, aparticular game embodiment may include two or more of the same decks ofslot cards. In one game embodiment, the game may use three of the samedecks of slot cards. In another game embodiment, the game may use fiveof the same decks of slot cards. In still another game embodiment, thegame may use fifty of the same decks of slot cards.

In one or more game embodiments, the game may combine three differentdecks of slot cards: one slot card deck with 150 cards, one slot carddeck with 50 slot cards and one slot card deck with 1200 slot cards. Forexample, each slot card deck may contain different sets of slot cards,wherein each slot card comprises a game symbol primary indicia, gamesuit secondary indicia and game slot line tertiary indicia.

In one embodiment, the game may include one deck of unique slot cardswith one deck of Pinochle cards wherein the rules of Pinochle aremodified into probability payouts for the overall game embodiment. Inanother game embodiment, the game may include one deck of unique slotcards with one deck of standard playing/poker cards wherein the rules ofdraw poker are modified into probability payouts for the overall gameembodiment.

Another embodiment of the invention will now be described. In thisembodiment of the invention, game cards have primary indicia.Preferably, the primary indicia comprise standard card suit and rankindicia (the primary indicia may comprise a single indicia or multipleindicia). For example, 52 game cards may be provided each having aunique combination of the ranks A, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q andK in the suits Hearts, Diamonds, Spades and Clubs, as is well known inthe art of playing cards.

One or more or all of the game cards preferably further includes atleast one secondary, bonus or slot symbol or indicia. In one embodiment,the bonus symbols are selected from a set of bonus symbols. The bonussymbols may comprise numbers and/or letters, words, logos various otherelements. The bonus symbols associated with the cards may be the same(for example, out of a set of 52 cards, 5 of the cards may bear the samebonus “BONUS WINNER” symbol) or one or more of the bonus symbols may bedifferent (for example, out of a set of 52 cards, 2 of the cards maybear “SPIN” bonus symbols and 2 other cards may bear “LUCKY” bonussymbols). The number of game cards that bear bonus symbols may vary,such as by the nature of the game being played, as detailed below.

One aspect of the invention is thus a set or deck of game cards. Thegame cards bear primary indicia, such as in the form of suit and rankindicia. In addition, one or more of the cards bear secondary bonusindicia or symbols. In a preferred embodiment, the deck of game cardscomprises 52 game cards.

However, the game cards may have other configurations. For example, thegame cards may comprise slot cards similar to those detailed above. Forexample, as illustrated in FIGS. 15-23, such cards might bear primaryindicia in the form of suit and slot symbols or the like. In addition,however, one or more of those cards may bear a bonus symbol. Theparticular configuration of the game cards, including the primaryindicia, may depend upon a base game to be played with the game cards.For example, if the base game is a game of poker or the like, theprimary indicia may comprise standard rank and suit indicia. If the basegame is a slot type game or games such as described above, the primaryindicia or symbols may comprise slot symbols. It will also beappreciated that the game cards may include other indicia or symbols,such as tertiary indicia or symbols.

In one embodiment, one or more, but not all, of the game cards bear orhave a bonus symbol. This embodiment set of game cards is particularlysuited to play of game where the occurrence of one or more bonus symbolstriggers a bonus or special event. For example, in one embodiment of agame one or more cards from the deck of cards are dealt or displayed toa player. Preferably, the primary indicia associated with those cardsare used to play a primary or base game. Such a game might comprise, forexample, a poker game, a blackjack game or the like. In addition, theappearance of one or more secondary or bonus symbols associated withthose cards may trigger a bonus or special event. Such an event mightcomprise, for example, a bonus payout or winning or a bonus game orevent. The bonus game or event might be for entertainment purposes or,more preferably, provide the opportunity for awards such as winnings.For example, a bonus event presented by a video gaming machine might bean animated event in which a player is permitted to select a door or boxfrom a set of doors or boxes which, when opened, reveal a potentialbonus payout.

The particular bonus symbol or symbols that must be obtained to triggerthe bonus event may vary. For example, the mere appearance of a singlebonus symbol might be sufficient to trigger such. In other embodiments,the player may be required to obtain multiple matching bonus symbols orother particular combinations of symbols. Preferably, the one or moresymbols or combinations thereof that trigger such events are defined bya pay table or the like. In one embodiment, the occurrence of multiplecombinations of bonus symbols might trigger multiple bonus events.Further, multiple bonus events may be triggered throughout play of themain game. For example, in a game of poker a player may be dealt aninitial hand of five cards. Those cards may be evaluated for bonussymbols and one or more bonus events may be triggered. The player may bepermitted to discard and replace one or more or all of the five cards inorder to generate a final poker hand (for comparison, for example, to apay table of winning poker hands having associated awards). The finalpoker hand of cards may again be evaluated for potential bonus symbolsor combinations thereof.

In one embodiment, the game cards may all include a bonus or secondarysymbol. In such an embodiment, combinations of bonus symbols may be usedto define bonus triggering events or the outcome of a secondary event orgame. For example, in one embodiment game cards may be used in the playof a primary or base game and a secondary slot game. The primary or basegame might comprise a poker game or other card game.

As one example, a deck of 52 cards is provided. The cards includeprimary indicia in the form of suit and rank indicia. Each card alsobears a secondary slot symbol. One or more cards are used in the play ofthe base game. For example, if the base game is a game of stud poker, 5cards may be dealt or displayed to the player. The primary card rank andsuit indicia may be utilized to determine the outcome of the base game.Awards may be provided for winning combinations of rank and suitindicia. In addition, the secondary slot symbols of the cards may beevaluated to determine the outcome of a slot game. For example,particular combinations of slot symbols may be defined to be winningoutcomes having associated awards. As one example, if the five cardsbear the same bonus symbol then a winning outcome may be declaredrelative to the slot game. In this configuration, a player may receive awinning outcome, and thus associated awards, for either or both theprimary game and the secondary game which are played using the same gamecards.

The games played with the game cards described herein may be played invarious manners. The games may be played as entertainment games. In apreferred embodiment, the games are played as wagering games wherein aplayer is required to place a value wager, preferably in the form ofmonies or monetary equivalent credits, to play the game. In variousembodiments one or more, but not all, of the potential outcomes of thegame are defined as winning outcomes. Those winning outcomes may be setforth in a pay table. Awards may be provided for winning outcomes. Theawards may comprise points, prizes or the like. In a preferredembodiment, the awards are monies or credits having monetary value.

Additional examples of games and game cards will now be provided.Embodiment 1. In one embodiment, the game is played on an electronicgaming machine wherein a player inserts a wager amount into the gamethen receives a plurality of cards, such as 10 game cards. The bonusindicia relating to one of a plurality of bonus games is randomly placed(or not) on each of the 10 game cards prior to being dealt to theplayer. During the initial 10 card deal, when the player receives abonus indicia on a predetermined number of game cards dealt to theplayer, for example 3 matching bonus indicia, the game automaticallybegins play of the bonus game. Once the bonus game is completed and anybonus credits are awarded to the player and all bonus indicia areremoved from the game cards, the player now has the option of holdingany number of initially dealt game cards.

Once the player completes the process of making selections, all thecards that were held by the player remain while those not held arereplaced with new cards. The player is then paid based on a pay outcriteria such as matching a specific number of game indicia, receiving aspecific combination of symbol indicia with suit indicia, matching aspecific set of suit indicia, and receiving a specific number of symbolindicia containing the same line number indicia on a particular gamecard.

In alternative embodiments, there may be a plurality of hold-drawsequences associated with a single game. A game may include the processof holding and drawing game cards more than one time, for example 3times, while receiving the chance of getting new bonus indicia on eachnewly drawn card and entering a bonus round when a specific number ofbonus indicia match on the newly drawn cards, each time receiving apayout associated with the bonus round and/or receiving a payout basedon a specific combination of game cards associated with a payoutcriteria.

In yet another embodiment indicia from well known poker card style gamesmay be added as an additional indicia to the cards wherein each gamecard contains a plurality of indicia as previously described (such asslot symbols and bonus symbols) in addition to another indiciaassociated with a traditional poker card indicia. The additional pokerindicia is added to each card and the player now plays cards based onboth the previously described indicia of matching in addition totraditional poker card game rules such as 5 card draw, 7 card stud,blackjack, joker's wild, 3 card poker, and other proprietary card gamesincorporating both traditional poker card as well as poker card ranking.

In a preferred embodiment, the player is dealt 5 cards. Each card has asymbol indicia, suit indicia, line indicia, and poker card indicia suchas ace, king, queen, jack, nine, and the like. The player receives fivecards and the objective is to match as many symbol indicia with the sameline number indicia as possible while also receiving the best poker cardindicia combination also on the same line. The player may hold up tofive cards or may draw up to five cards or any combination therein. Theplayer is dealt those cards which were identified as draw to replace theearlier cards which were dealt. The resulting hand of five cards is thenevaluated based on the best poker ranked hand and the best symbolmatching combination hand. The suit indicia may be used in combinationwith both the poker card indicia and the symbol card indicia, forexample a hand of five cards after the draw step may include: Card 1:Bell, Hearts, line 2, jack; Card 2: Bell, Hearts, line 3, Two; Card 3:Bar, Hearts, line 1, Three; Card 4: Bar, Hearts, line 1. Five; Card 5:Diamond, Hearts, line 3, King. In this example, the player would have aFlush which would be treated as a ranked hand and the payout would occurbased on the combination of cards resulting in a Flush. Further, if theplayer were to have Card 1: Bell, Hearts, line 2, jack; Card 2: Bell,Hearts, line 3, Two; Card 3: Bell, Hearts, line 3, Three; Card 4: Bell,Hearts, line 4; Card 5: Bell, Hearts, line 5, King. The player wouldreceive a higher payout than a traditional poker Flush since the playernow has a 5 Bell FLUSH.

Other combinations of slot symbol indicia with poker card indicia arepossible incorporating both a matching of symbols with a ranked pokerhand occurring on a particular line number. For example, a player mayhave 5 Kings with 5 different line number indicia or a player may have 4Kings with the same line number indicia. The player would be paid basedon how the cards were ranked with the poker indicia associated with thesame line number ranked higher than a poker indicia combinationoccurring on multiple line number indicia. Additionally, the player mayany number of cards in a single hand as defined by the game implementedand may use the line number indicia in an attempt to obtain the bestpoker hand on multiple lines. For example, in a six slot card game, aplayer may receive: Card 1: Bell, Line 1, Heart, King; Card 2: Bar, Line1, Spade, King; Card 3: Diamond, Line 1, Club, King; Card 4: Bar, Line3, Diamond, Queen; Card 5: Bell, Line 3, Hearts, Queen; Card 6: Horseshoe, Line 3, Clubs, Queen. This player has Three Kings on line 1 andThree Queens on line 3 and is paid accordingly. However if the playerwere to receive Three Kings and Three Queens on the same line numbersuch as line 1, the player would be paid more since the poker indiciaoccurring on a single line is ranked higher then a poker indicia handsplit between multiple lines.

Games played with the game cards may comprise base games or mightcomprise bonus games. For example, a standard video slot game may havevarious bonus outcomes. One or more of those outcomes might comprise thepresentation of a game utilizing game cards as described herein. In suchevent, the player may be awarded bonus awards for winning outcomes ofthe bonus event(s) played using the game cards.

It will be appreciated that numerous games and game variations may beplayed using the game cards detailed herein. For example, while a studtype poker game may be presented, so might draw poker games. In suchgames, the manner in which the cards are evaluated, including anysecondary or bonus symbols may vary. For example, in a draw poker gamethe occurrence of bonus symbols might be evaluated after the initialhand of cards is dealt, after each successive replacement card ispresented (if any cards are discarded) and/or after the final hand iscompleted with any replacement cards.

The secondary or bonus symbols may be associated with the cards invarious manners. For example, in one embodiment, the games of theinvention may be implemented using physical cards. The cards may have acard back and card face. The card faces may be printed with the slotcard indicia described above. The cards may be dealt onto a table or thelike. In such an embodiment, bonus symbols may be printed on one or moreof the cards. Each deck of cards might be the same or the decks might bedifferent. For example, the cards having bonus symbols may be randomlyselected and the bonus symbols printed thereon. In addition, the bonussymbols which are printed on the cards may be randomly selected from aset of bonus symbols. In this manner, each deck of physical cards may bethe same or entirely different.

In another embodiment, the games of the invention may be implemented ata gaming machine. In one embodiment, for example, the slot cards may bedisplayed via a plurality of rotating reels. The reels may be configuredto rotate and stop, displaying one or more rows of slot cards. Inanother embodiment, a gaming machine may be configured to display slotcards via a video display. In a video game implementation, the gamecards are video images. In such a configuration, game cards may berandomly selected or generated. For example, game cards may be randomlyselected from one or more sets or decks of game cards. In oneembodiment, secondary or bonus symbols may already be associated withthose cards. In other embodiments, the secondary or bonus symbols may berandomly generated at one or more times and be associated with one ormore of the game cards. In one embodiment, bonus symbols may be selectedfrom a set of bonus symbols. For example, a set of bonus symbols mightcomprise 10 “LUCKY” bonus symbols, 10 “WHEEL SPIN” bonus symbols, 5“JACKPOT” bonus symbols and so on. If 5 bonus symbols are to be used inthe game, they may be randomly selected from the 25 bonus symbols in themaster set (such that the 5 selected bonus symbols may change each timethey are selected). In other embodiments, the bonus symbols may bepre-selected or determined so that particular combinations thereofalways exist relative to a deck of cards or set of cards used in thegame which provide the opportunity for winning outcomes.

While the game indicia are preferably associated with cards or aredisplayed in a “card” format, it is possible for the indicia to be usedwith other elements. For example, the game indicia might be displayed inother formats, such as on the side of a die, etc.

While various embodiments of the invention have been described, it willbe apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that many moreembodiments and implementations are possible that are within the scopeof this invention. In addition, the various features, elements, andembodiments described herein may be claimed or combined in anycombination or arrangement.

TABLE 1 SLOT CARD GAME EMBODIMENT EXAMPLE SAMPLE PAY TABLE SLOT LINESGame Symbol Primary Indicia Slot Line 1 Slot Line 2 Slot Line 3 Payout 1Bar, 2 Bar, 3 Bar Any Line Any Line Any Line 200 2 Bells, 2 Horse ShoesAny Line Any Line Any Line 100 Any 3 Bells Any Line Any Line Any Line 50Any 3 1 Bar Any Line Any Line Any Line 25 Any 3 Diamonds Any Line AnyLine Any Line 5 Any 3 Shamrocks Any Line Any Line Any Line 5 Any 3 HorseShoes Any Line Any Line Any Line 5 1 Bar, 2 Bar, 3 Bar Match Match 2000Any 3 Bells Match Match 250 Any 3 1 Bar Match Match 250 Any 3 DiamondsMatch Match 250 Any 3 Shamrocks Match Match 250 Any 3 Horse Shoes MatchMatch 250 1 Bar, 2 Bar, 3 Bar Match Match 2000 Any 3 Bells Match Match250 Any 3 1 Bar Match Match 250 Any 3 Diamonds Match Match 250 Any 3Shamrocks Match Match 250 Any 3 Horse Shoes Match Match 250 1 Bar, 2Bar, 3 Bar Match Match 2000 Any 3 Bells Match Match 250 Any 3 1 BarMatch Match 250 Any 3 Diamonds Match Match 250 Any 3 Shamrocks MatchMatch 250 Any 3 Horse Shoes Match Match 250 1 Bar, 2 Bar, 3 Bar MatchMatch Match 20000 Any 3 Bells Match Match Match 5000 Any 3 1 Bar MatchMatch Match 5000 Any 3 Diamonds Match Match Match 5000 Any 3 ShamrocksMatch Match Match 5000 Any 3 Horse Shoes Match Match Match 5000 BonusGame Suit Seconary Indicia Slot Line 1 Slot Line 2 Slot Line 3 Pay Any3hearts Any Line Any Line Any Line 100 Any 3 spades Any Line Any LineAny Line 100 Any 3 pot of gold Any Line Any Line Any Line 100 Any 3diamonds Any Line Any Line Any Line 100 Any 3 clubs Any Line Any LineAny Line 100 Any 3 rainbows Any Line Any Line Any Line 100 Any heart,Any Rainbow, Any Line Any Line Any Line 50 Any Clubs

TABLE 2 SAMPLE 183 CARD DECK 12 Game Symbol Indicia-5 Game SuitIndicia-3 Slot Line Indicia 3 WILD SLOT CARDS Game Symbol-Game Suit-SlotLine Game Symbol-Game Suit-Slot Line (a) 1Bar-hearts-line 13Bar-hearts-line 1 1Bar-raspberry-line 1 3Bar-raspberry-line 11Bar-rainbow-line 1 3Bar-rainbow-line 1 1Bar-potagold-line 13Bar-potagold-line 1 1Bar-shamrock-line 1 3Bar-shamrock-line 11Bar-hearts-line 2 3Bar-hearts-line 2 1Bar-raspberry-line 23Bar-raspberry-line 2 1Bar-rainbow-line 2 3Bar-rainbow-line 21Bar-potagold-line 2 3Bar-potagold-line 2 1Bar-shamrock-line 23Bar-shamrock-line 2 1Bar-hearts-line 3 3Bar-hearts-line 31Bar-raspberry-line 3 3Bar-raspberry-line 3 1Bar-rainbow-line 33Bar-rainbow-line 3 1Bar-potagold-line 3 3Bar-potagold-line 31Bar-shamrock-line 3 1Bar-shamrock-line 3 2Bar-hearts-line 1 HShoe-hearts-line 1 2Bar-raspberry-line 1 HShoe-raspberry-line 12Bar-rainbow-line 1 HShoe-rainbow-line 1 2Bar-potagold-line 1HShoe-potagold-line 1 2Bar-shamrock-line 1 HShoe-shamrock-line 12Bar-hearts-line 2 HShoe-hearts-line 2 2Bar-raspberry-line 2HShoe-raspberry-line 2 2Bar-rainbow-line 2 HShoe-rainbow-line 22Bar-potagold-line 2 HShoe-potagold-line 2 2Bar-shamrock-line 2HShoe-shamrock-line 2 2Bar-hearts-line 3 HShoe-hearts-line 32Bar-raspberry-line 3 HShoe-raspberry-line 3 2Bar-rainbow-line 3HShoe-rainbow-line 3 2Bar-potagold-line 3 HShoe-potagold-line 32Bar-shamrock-line 3 HShoe-shamrock-line 3 (b) Diamond-hearts-line 11Bell-hearts-line 1 Diamond-raspberry-line 1 1Bell-raspberry-line 1Diamond-rainbow-line 1 1Bell-rainbow-line 1 Diamond-potagold-line 11Bell-potagold-line 1 Diamond-shamrock-line 1 1Bell-shamrock-line 1Diamond-hearts-line 2 1Bell-hearts-line 2 Diamond-raspberry-line 21Bell-raspberry-line 2 Diamond-rainbow-line 2 1Bell-rainbow-line 2Diamond-potagold-line 2 1Bell-potagold-line 2 Diamond-shamrock-line 21Bell-shamrock-line 2 Diamond-hearts-line 3 1Bell-hearts-line 3Diamond-raspberry-line 3 1Bell-raspberry-line 3 Diamond-rainbow-line 31Bell-rainbow-line 3 Diamond-potagold-line 3 1Bell-potagold-line 3Diamond-shamrock-line 3 1Bell-shamrock-line 3 1Cherry-hearts-line 12Bell-hearts-line 1 1Cherry-raspberry-line 1 2Bell-raspberry-line 11Cherry-rainbow-line 1 2Bell-rainbow-line 1 1Cherry-potagold-line 12Bell-potagold-line 1 1Cherry-shamrock-line 1 2Bell-shamrock-line 11Cherry-hearts-line 2 2Bell-hearts-line 2 1Cherry-raspberry-line 22Bell-raspberry-line 2 1Cherry-rainbow-line 2 2Bell-rainbow-line 21Cherry-potagold-line 2 2Bell-potagold-line 2 1Cherry-shamrock-line 22Bell-shamrock-line 2 1Cherry-hearts-line 3 2Bell-hearts-line 31Cherry-raspberry-line 3 2Bell-raspberry-line 3 1Cherry-rainbow-line 32Bell-rainbow-line 3 1Cherry-potagold-line 3 2Bell-potagold-line 31Cherry-shamrock-line 3 2Bell-shamrock-line 3 (c) 2Cherry-hearts-line 11Star-hearts-line 1 2Cherry-raspberry-line 1 1Star-raspberry-line 12Cherry-rainbow-line 1 1Star-rainbow-line 1 2Cherry-potagold-line 11Star-potagold-line 1 2Cherry-shamrock-line 1 1Star-shamrock-line 12Cherry-hearts-line 2 1Star-hearts-line 2 2Cherry-raspberry-line 21Star-raspberry-line 2 2Cherry-rainbow-line 2 1Star-rainbow-line 22Cherry-potagold-line 2 1Star-potagold-line 2 2Cherry-shamrock-line 21Star-shamrock-line 2 2Cherry-hearts-line 3 1Star-hearts-line 32Cherry-raspberry-line 3 1Star-raspberry-line 3 2Cherry-rainbow-line 31Star-rainbow-line 3 2Cherry-potagold-line 3 1Star-potagold-line 32Cherry-shamrock-line 3 1Star-shamrock-line 3 3Cherry-hearts-line 12Star-hearts-line 1 3Cherry-raspberry-line 1 2Star-raspberry-line 13Cherry-rainbow-line 1 2Star-rainbow-line 1 3Cherry-potagold-line 12Star-potagold-line 1 3Cherry-shamrock-line 1 2Star-shamrock-line 13Cherry-hearts-line 2 2Star-hearts-line 2 3Cherry-raspberry-line 22Star-raspberry-line 2 3Cherry-rainbow-line 2 2Star-rainbow-line 23Cherry-potagold-line 2 2Star-potagold-line 2 3Cherry-shamrock-line 22Star-shamrock-line 2 3Cherry-hearts-line 3 2Star-hearts-line 33Cherry-raspberry-line 3 2Star-raspberry-line 3 3Cherry-rainbow-line 32Star-rainbow-line 3 3Cherry-potagold-line 3 2Star-potagold-line 33Cherry-shamrock-line 3 2Star-shamrock-line 3 WILD-wild-wildWILD-wild-wild WILD-wild-wild

1. A deck of playing cards, said deck comprising a plurality of playingcards, each playing card bearing unique combination of rank and suitindicia, and one or more of said playing cards bearing at least onesecondary bonus symbol selected from a set of secondary bonus symbols.2. The deck in accordance with claim 1 wherein said playing cards areprinted cards having a front and a back, said rank and suit indicia andany secondary bonus symbols being printed on said front of said playingcards.
 3. The deck in accordance with claim 1 wherein said deckcomprises 52 playing cards bearing the combinations of the ranks A,2-10, J, Q and K in the suits hearts, diamonds, clubs and spades.
 4. Thedeck in accordance with claim 3 wherein at least two of said playingcards bear secondary bonus symbol.
 5. The deck in accordance with claim1 wherein said playing cards are electronically generated images ofcards.
 6. The deck in accordance with claim 5 wherein a plurality ofsaid playing cards are randomly selected and at least one secondarybonus symbol is associated with each of said selected cards.
 7. The deckin accordance with claim 1 wherein said of said plurality of playingcards bears a secondary bonus symbol selected from a set of bonussymbols comprising at least two different bonus symbols.
 8. A method ofplaying a game comprising: providing a plurality of game cards, each ofsaid plurality of game cards bearing a unique combination of rank andsuit indicia, and one or more but not all of said playing cards bearingat least one bonus symbol; utilizing one or more of said plurality ofgame cards in the play of a base game; determining an outcome of saidbase game based upon the rank and suit indicia of said playing cardsused in said base game; and determining if said playing cards used insaid base game include a predetermined configuration of bonus symbolsand, if so, presenting a bonus game.
 9. The method in accordance withclaim 8 wherein said plurality of playing cards comprises a deck of 52cards and said base game comprises a game of poker comprising dealing atleast 5 of said 52 cards to a player.
 10. The method in accordance withclaim 8 wherein said at least one bonus symbol comprises a slot gamesymbol.
 11. The method in accordance with claim 8 wherein said gamecards are printed cards having a front and a back.
 12. The method inaccordance with claim 8 wherein said game cards are electronic imagespresented at a wagering game machine.
 13. A method of playing a gamecomprising: providing a plurality of game cards, each of said pluralityof game cards bearing a unique combination of rank and suit indicia andeach of said plurality of game cards bearing at least one slot gamesymbol; utilizing a group of said plurality of game cards in the play ofa card and slot game; determining an outcome of said card game basedupon the rank and suit indicia of said group of playing cards; anddetermining an outcome of said slot game based upon a combination ofslot game symbols of said group of playing cards.
 14. The method inaccordance with claim 13 wherein said group of game cards comprises fiveof said plurality of game cards.
 15. The method in accordance with claim14 further comprising the step of permitting a player to discard one ormore or all of said five game cards and obtain replacement cards andwherein said steps of determining an outcome are made with reference tosaid cards after any replacement.
 16. The method in accordance withclaim 13 wherein said plurality of game cards comprise 52 game cards.